That’s a good start, but don’t stop there. Your website can be one of the most effective marketing tools you have. It is by far one of the best values as well.

In the past, if you wanted to do business you’d get a yellow pages ad, for thousands of dollars, and then you took out ads in the paper also, maybe canvasing and area with fliers or something. You knew you had to spend the money because that is how you were found. You put it in the budget and organized your business around it.

But for some reason people approach things without the same business commitment. People seem to think that spending as little as possible is somehow going to achieve a satisfactory result.

It seems to me that if we think about our websites in the same way that we used to think about our yellow pages ads, we’d realize that for it to be truly effective for us, we will need to spend a little time and money getting it working for us. Only then will we get the return we are looking for. The difference is that you will spend far less and get far more through your website than through a yellow pages ad. Sorry little yellow book sitting in my drawer unused, but you just will.

The key is not to simply hang your website like a sign then walk away expecting customers to just show up. It just doesn’t work that way. What this means is that someone needs to do the work necessary to make sure your website is designed correctly (structurally), is optimized so people can find it (Search Engine Optimization) and is easy to use (usability) so that your website can be found by people looking for your products and services and when they get to your site, they find what they are looking for and hopefully take the next step.

You Get What You Pay For

If you decide that you are going to manage your own website yourself, be prepared to spend a lot of time learning about website design, search engine optimization rules and writing content for the web, which is very different than other writing you may do. You must learn all this so that your site will perform effectively. If you don’t, your website is not going to be effective and you will have spent your time for a less than desired result. You might not like this next statement, but it’s not the websites fault if it’s not working for you.

Think about this. If you hired someone to do your website and they could not get it to where you want it, or couldn’t make it look how you want (EG: to match your branding), you’d fire them, right? Well, maybe it’s time to fire yourself.

Don’t Skimp

One of my challenges, surprisingly, is to convince business owner not to skimp on their marketing efforts. This is a bit odd to me as your marketing is what prospective customers use to decide if they are going to take the next step and move forward in doing business with you. Is it really worth saving a few bucks to take that chance? You don’t want people to look at your website and think “This says they’ve been in business for a week” do you? Or to simply hit the back button because they couldn’t find what they were looking for?

I see people with those paper brochures that they printed themselves. Cheap? Yes. (Actually maybe not when you look at what ink costs). Easy to update? Yes. Effective? Not really. So, is that a good use of your money and resources? Is it a good business decision? I see the same thing with business cards people get for free from certain companies as well. A bunch of people have the same business card because they’re all picking from the same templates.

Not Like The Old Days

Keep in mind that we’re not talking about the same kind of dollars that yellow page advertising cost. I’ve heard of people spending $5-30k per month! Yes, you read that right, per month. A brand new website doesn’t cost near that and if you have a website, you can get it hosted and professionally managed for around $40/mo.

It’s not personal, it’s business

If you want a professional result, you need to hire a professional. Just make sure you define your goals and make the necessary choices to achieve them. You may take your business personally because it represents who you are. I understand that, but when you need to make a business decision, keep your emotions out of it. Find someone you trust and see how it goes. If they can’t get it done, choose someone else.

Ok, so you’ve started giving your customers little nuggets, maybe some insider information or extra articles that you don’t just give away to everyone. Perfect.

Getting More Meaningful

Your customers are just like you; They have opinions they’ll happily share with others.  They might even want to get involved with various charitable causes.

While this next suggestion is not intended to be a direct selling tool (meaning that you do this for the purpose of selling in some artificial way) it may increase sales.

This is more about showing your company to be honestly interested in your customers and the community.

Get them Engaged

The internet is a great place to connect with your customers and to offer information about what you’re doing. Right now the two places to do this that are getting lot so media coverage are Facebook and Twitter (these links are to my pages so you can see what I’m talking about). NOTE: Feel free to become a fan (Facebook) and Follow Me (on Twitter).

You may have heard the term “Social Media” and these are it.

In the end it is simply a way to build relationships with people. The fact that you are using a non personal computer to do it seems a little contradictory, but the words (posts and comments) aren’t written by the computer. You and your customers will be engaging in conversations ranging from products reviews to where you went sailing. Take it as far as you like, but be sure to find out the best way to utilize the social media opportunities.

Facebook on Steroids

Keiran Murray of Extreme Networking 101 teaches the best Facebook Webinar around (if you live in the Tacoma area they have in person classes as well I believe). If you want to use Facebook to it’s fullest potential, get in that class. Oh, and be committed to actually putting into practice the things you learn. They make it fun and easy and you can even build your Facebook page during the class!

Using Facebook will give you a predesigned platform to connect with your customers. There is no subscription free and it’s all there already. You can start with just having your photo and a company logo. Facebook has everything else built into it. Of course, the more effort you put into it, the better it will be and the greater the potential benefit.

Twitter

Twitter is a bit less interactive. It’s more of a way to get information out quickly for people to access. While they can respond it just isn’t quite as nice of way to build relationships in my opinion. However, before you write it off, consider that it might be the way to get a customer to take a next step to visit your website or Facebook page. You can send out tips, tricks and offers, all the while continually pointing them to your website. If you consider that as it’s purpose you may find value in it. And remember, it costs nothing but  a little bit of time to write little posts regularly.

Causes

Beyond day to day communication, using your website, Facebook, etc to draw customers to charitable causes is a great way to do three things very efficiently

1. Get people involved with the event/cause
2. Develop a stronger bond with your customers
3. Long term profits (This is residue benefit that comes to companies that honestly give back)

Getting involved

You help the cause, your customers feel good about helping. How great is that? And if you sponsor the cause/event you get to be face (driving force of the cause) that your customers will associate.

Develop a Bond

Does the idea of developing actual deeper relationships with your customers seem weird to you? Why, because you feel strange charging them at that point? Having close/strong connections with your customer is good for both you and the customer. They get to know you and that way they don’t have to go out and “take a chance” with the next guy. They can relax because they know you’ll take care of them.

Long Term View

By becoming involved in the community you are setting yourself up to experience long term profits. It does take time and you should find a cause that you are truly interested in. Something you might support regardless. Over time, people will respond to your commitment and you will gain credibility all around. Unfortunately sometimes we feel funny tooting our own horn. We want to donate with the “christian ideal” of not letting anyone know about it. There is not contradiction here. Don’t tell how much you’re giving, but by being an advocate for the cause you are merely drawing others to it.

Conclusion

By having these things hooked into your website you can quickly make updates/changes with very little cost. Let your website get to work for you. By investing a little creativity, and yes a little money too, you can turn your website into a revenue/referral source.

Of course you’ll want to start tracking these things, but that is another article….

You’ll remember last time we covered a couple basic uses of your website and one slightly more advanced one (specials and coupons). We even talked about creating a way for your customers to get even more special offers by opting in to receive your marketing materials.

Take it further

Along with have specials or coupons, you have something that might be even more valuable to your customers: Your expertize.

You may not feel like an expert, and I can totally relate, but have you ever been talking with someone about your industry, business, interests and found that you knew far more than they did? That is what I am talking about. Don’t assume that expert means that you know everything there is to know about a subject. The fact that you know more than your customers can and should be exploited.

Don’t take that the wrong way, I’m simply saying that your customers will benefit from what you know as much as what you offer (product/service). Use this fact as a way to develop your relationship with your customer a little bit further.

You can offer “legal bribes” that will provide free information to your website visitors and will provide you with their name and email and you’ll know that they accessed the information. Now you can follow up with them  because you have a nice reason to. Send them an email is a few days asking if they got what they needed, had any questions or how about a second download of similar or related information? Any fusion marketing opportunities for you? (Fusion marketing would be other companies that offer complimentary services to yours so you can share them with your customers for added value).

So, what is this legal bribe anyway?

Well, that all depends upon what you do and how you do it. I can throw out a few ideas just so that you can see what I’m talking about, but you’ll need to figure out how it might apply to your business. As always, feel free to contact me. I love helping business owners generate ideas.

E.g.,

• 10 things to prepare for winter (works for cars, house, wardrobe or skin/beauty)
• 5 mistakes you’re making with your marketing (or whatever)
• Recipe of the month

You see, they are simple and may seem simplistic, but to your customers it might be the perfect fix to satisfy their addiction.

Take it easy

Also, break things down so that they can be offered over time. This helps you in not having to scramble for content ideas but it also helps your customer because then they aren’t overwhelmed with choices. Take a list of 20 things and make 4 lists of 5 things. Or only offer one idea a month and just be a little more thorough with your presentation, offering a fuller explanation.

In doing this, you will become a resource for your customers. They will look to you as a place to get answers. And when it comes time for them to buy, they’ll already know you, so you stand a better chance of making the sale. Of course if you offer special discounts to customers who have registered, you’re kind of priming the pump. While you should be mindful, keep in mind that giving a coupon/discount is not losing profit margin it is buying business. You aren’t marketing hoping to win business, you are buying business directly only paying (with a little profit margin) for those that act (buy from you).

Looking ahead

In Part III we’ll show how you can involve/engage your customers to create an even stronger bond with you. I can’t wait.

Job done, right?

Maybe.

Your website is one of the most powerful marketing/selling  tools you own. For the money there is no better way to accomplish the task(s) you set for it. Once in place, it never sleeps, takes a break or complains. It performs the task perfectly every time, never day-dreaming about being out on the open road.

Where to start?

Think about information that you offer your customers on a regular basis and consider making that information available on-line.

• What are your hours?
• Where are you located? (you can even give directions and a map).
• Got any specials?

Websites are perfect for this kind of information because it give it out when your customer (or prospect) asks for it. The moment they want to know your hours or location, your website is there to give it to them. I will assume that if you have a site, you have this information available and very easy to find. If I can’t get the answer within one click, your site is not built right.

The Next Step

But what about the third example up there. Do you have any specials or coupons that you offer regularly? By having this on the website, you give the customer the ability to “find that good deal” that we all seek when we shop. Tell people to check out your website for the latest deals you’re offering.

• Buy one, get one half off
• 10% off an oil change
• Bring in your last receipt and get some discount of special thing

Now your website is being anticipated by your customers as a place to provide you savings, a deal, etc. And while it’s doing that, if your offer is aimed at existing customers you will build customer loyalty. Remember, it’s something like three times cheaper to keep a customer than to get a new one. Reward them.

Extra Special

You can even add another layer to that and offer something for everyone to get (some coupons or whatever), but offer even more to people who will “register” (this solution does not require a special database program. Please contact me to learn more about implementing this functionality) . That is to say that they give you their name and email address and now they get your monthly, weekly, etc, special offers that you don’t offer on the site. They are special.

This way you get to market to them and they get to save money. Say it with me, “It’s a win-win”

Envision it.

What does it look like? Do you have a new car, another machine that does whatever it is you need? A bigger warehouse?

I know if may seem silly, but if you cannot define what you are hoping to achieve, how will you ever get there? Just being hopeful that you might get more business is nice, but what about being bold and defining how much more business you’d like to have?

For one, just starting out, it might sound amazing, something like 3 times as many customers for another it’s 10% growth. Whatever it is, you will find specific value in writing it down and even telling someone.

By doing this, you are holding yourself accountable, yes, but you are also giving yourself a specific target, a goal to shoot for. This is vital. When we have something specific to achieve, we are far more likely to reach it. We are all like this, at least those of us bold enough to try.

Think about mountain climbers. Do they just start by walking around? Where are you going you ask? They say, “Not sure, just keepin on keepin on”. How successful do you think they’ll be? A silly example yes, but think about. Really think about. The climbers who scale mountains, plan for it, they tell people about it, they map it out, then they make decisions that support that goal every single day, and then, as they climb, the goal (the summit) is fixed in their minds and helps them overcome all hardships, pain and fatigue.

It is the same in your business and your life. You must have a concrete goal if you want to succeed. Heck, write it down and put it somewhere no one can see it if you think it’s silly or you’re embarrassed, at least you’ll be able to look at it.

So, as we approach our new year, Envision Your Success.

I believe that as a business with integrity, one should bring that up to the customer, explain why what they’re asking for may not be the best solution and offer them the better option in your opinion.

Many do not want to do this because they don’t want to hurt their chances of making a sale. This is short sighted. By not “arguing” with a customer and just doing what they want, you may be “in the right” but that can sour the relationship, especially if, when a better solution comes to light, you just say, “This is what you asked for” or “I did what you told me to do”. You’re right, you did, and they owe you money for it.

But, you are the expert and your customers are relying on you to give them all the information they need, even information they didn’t know they needed. They want you to help them get the best product for their money. You know far more than they do about it, so who else is better equipped to guide them and educate them?

Listen, I am not, for a minute, suggesting that you TELL a customer what they should do and that’s that. What I am saying is that you should listen closely and if you have an alternate solution than the one they are asking about that you fell is better (better value, better benefits, etc), say to them, “It sounds to me like you want “X”. There is a much better (product/service) that can accomplish that for you”. Now your customer may listen to you explain it and through that conversation more details may be revealed that would point you back to their original choice. That’s fine. Don’t act like “Oh, I’m sorry, you’re right, I was wrong”. You didn’t have all the information needed. You simply tell them, “Aha, yes, now that makes more sense. I’m glad I asked because I wanted to make sure you were getting the right thing.”

Let your customers know that you truly have their best interest in mind. If you do, and they come to understand this, they will come back to you because they know you are not going to just try and (up-sell, nickle-and-dime) them, etc.

From this trust will come longer term profit as you will have a customer that requires very little work on your part to keep selling to. And, they will be much more likely to refer you, because you treated them well.

Some are better at this than others and some are more organized about it than others. Lots of us find ourselves getting off track half way through the process because we either get stuck on some detail or we start moving forward before the process is completed because we just want to get going.

Obviously if we are talking about a family trip to grandmas, starting before we have everything in place can be a disaster. Anyone remember to feed the cat, lock the door, turn off the stove?

It’s the same in business marketing. Before we begin a new marketing campaign/strategy, we should start with our goal and work backward to the beginning. Look at each step and define how the step supports the goal. This may sound like a lot of work, but think about how much money you can save by having your plan in place knowing that you have planned it out the best you could vs just throwing your money away, hoping it will work.

With the steps in place, look at your marketing as it fits in along the path. Maybe it’s a direct mailer or an email newsletter.  Maybe you decide to re-do your website to better fit into your branding efforts or you create new business cards and brochures to tie into your newly design site.

Depending upon what you are planning on doing, keep in mind that you must build consistency into your plan. Your customers and prospects react much better when something is predictable. Anyone hear of McDonanlds®? Not the best food, not the best atmosphere, but amazingly consistent. Not matter where you are, it’s a pretty good bet that you will get what you expect to get when you walk in.

Here is a pretty good article on this subject of being consistent, so I am not going to reinvent or rewrite. Take a few minutes and read through it. Take what you like, ignore what you don’t, but be sure that you are making that decision consciously.

Chris Shockley is owner of Envision Design Solutions and has been building websites for over 12 years. He can be reached via the web: http://www.EnvisionDesignSolutions.com/

We know our business and it’s easy to just write about the features of our service and products because surely that is all customers need to know. After all, I know that my products and services are the best and are worth every penny.

There are a couple of very important things to remember

1. Your customers care about themselves
2. There is something that your customer wants or needs

If you simply give a nice list of features, your customer is being well educated. Intellectually, they know more about your industry, the product(s), and your services, but no decision will be forthcoming.

We do not make decisions based upon intellect. Whether we like it or not, people make decision based upon emotion. That is not to say that every decision is some “emotionally” driven mistake that means we ignore logic and facts, etc. Not at all. In fact, often times, the more facts one knows (the more educated about something) the more their emotions can influence them about it. This is why car makers have brochures for you to take home. You get to combine your knowledge of the product with your emotional desire for it. In the end, you are more convinced than ever.

Focus Your Message

So, back to that marketing material you are writing. Think in terms of a couple of things. We read previously that we are all in the business of marketing which still holds true, but I want you to consider a new idea about your approach.

You sell a service or a product, but in the end each one of us is a provider of solutions.

Our customer has a problem, some of which are obvious, others they need to be educated about. But it is these problems that we solve or satisfy. Keep in mind that “problem” does not imply something is wrong, it is simply the “something” that a person wants or needs. E.g., my problem might be that I want something fun to do. The answer is my Suzuki GSX650f motorcycle.

So, when you are writing/creating your marketing content, consider the problems that your customers (people) face, figure out how you (your products and services) solve them. List these solutions in the form of benefits and you’ll be speaking directly to your customers.

Think of a compelling line to grab their attention that speaks directly to the problem. Then explain how you solve the problem.

So, what happened?

Well, chances are you never explained why the information was important (if it even truly was) in a way that the customer could really latch onto it, or you just overwhelmed them with so much that you kind of killed off their ability to process it.

You are excited about your business, you love the technical stuff and know why it matters; you customer does not care.

Because you know the ins and outs of your business and have interacted with many customers, use that information to figure out better ways to explain things and better ways to understand what is being said and what you are trying to communicate. Just make sure you do it in such a way so that your customer does not feel stupid, and make sure you are not given out more than is needed. I’m not saying hide anything from them, just use your expertise to give out important information in a “benefit to them” format and not just throw everything you’ve got at them hoping that it’ll make a difference.

Here’s an example, I have a customer who came to me for a new business venture he’s starting. Essentially it’s a new division of his existing construction company. He needed a logo and a website. He doesn’t know anything about the technical inner workings of websites, domain names and website hosting or image formats or how search engine optimization functions. He just wants the website to work, and knows he’ll need signs for his truck and t-shirts for his crews and all the rest.

By listening to what he’s asking for, I was able to speak in simple terms, technically speaking, and focus on the results; benefit and deliverables. EG: Because he’s paying me to create his logo, I will give me a set of graphic files that he can take to his t-shirt guy, sign guy, etc as needed. I did not tell him about vector graphics versus raster or any of that. I just told him, “Your guys should be able to find something on there and if not, have them call me”. Bam, now he knows the benefit; I’ll take care of him!

He does not care like I do about these things, he cares about having the marketing and advertising materials that HIS business needs.

Even if you really think a customer should want to know something first make sure that it really matters in the interaction. If it’s something truly beneficial to the customer, by all means; that is your customer service proposition. But, if it’s just something cool to know or something you’re excited about that does not really have a direct benefit leave it out.

If you feel like you’re going to burst at the seams with all your excitement, you can always start a blog or newsletter.

There are a lot of ways to do this such as, networking, advertising, direct mail, a website, Facebook, etc.

This article is not about the specifics of each of those, but rather a primer on a new paradigm using your direct mailer campaign in coordination with your website.

With so many avenues available to the small business owner, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with how to do each one the most effectively. That is actually the problem, each one of these often promotes itself as if by just doing “x” you can gain the customers your after, when in reality, you will find far more benefit from using one avenue of your marketing to support another.

Our Example.

Direct mail can be a very effective tool for getting your name out there, reinforcing your branding and getting some direct sales. The experts say something around 2% is an expected return on a generic direct mail effort. If direct mail didn’t work, we’d stop seeing it so we know that, at least to some extent, it is still a valuable marketing tool. The direct mail guys will tell you two things, if they’re any good, that

1) you need a good list (you want to mail to potential customers after all) and

2) you need a “call to action”. Besides that, a great headline, good colors and graphics all help of course.

Let’s focus on the call to action. What is that? Well, it’s the line that urges the reader to do something (the thing you’d like them to do of course). Call Now!, Call today, Enter and win, Buy one get one.

That’s all well and good, but you’re dealing with a one shot deal there, they either do it or they don’t and you’d never know the difference. So how can you make things better? Well, how about you make your call to action be something that exposes them to more of your marketing? Huh? Yes, make your call to action be something that directs them to your website where you can track to see how many visitors you’ve actually had and it’s a place where you can market to them even more. Something along the line of: “Enter your email into our drawing”, or “Sign up for the free eBook”, or “Enter for…”, etc.

By offering something compelling and valuable you motivate them to participate. They willingly sign up, giving you their name and email and maybe phone, and you give them something for free or entry to win the contest, etc. This gives you permission to market to them at a later time and be encouraged by the fact that they’re interested enough to want more information or product or service means you have a far better chance to get their business.

Once you have their name and email, you can follow up to make sure they got the info they were looking for, you can ask them if there is anything else that they want or need, you can tell them about the next offer. Maybe you do a monthly special or have a series of tips that you give. Whatever you do, make sure that your marketing efforts have a better chance of working by using them to support the whole.